Here's Where the Summer Heat Should Be the Worst This Year

It's going to be a scorcher: For most of the country, chances are the weather will be hotter than normal this summer. According to a forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the East Coast, much of the Gulf Coast, Hawaii, and parts of the Southwest are set to have a brutal summer this year. But in the Great Plains states, the summer could be totally typical—or even cooler than usual.

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Here's what you need to know when you look at the below map: The dark red color doesn't mean the highest temperatures—it means the highest odds of a well above average temperature this summer. The darker the red or orange hue, the higher the chances the summer will be hotter than usual. The white areas show an equal chance of the temperature being hotter, colder, or the usual this summer.

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This comes after this past April was the second warmest on record around the world. NOAA forecaster Stephen Baxter says there might be some hope, though: This summer might not be so bad because the spring was wet, so the drenched soil might relieve us of some of the heat. The summer is expected to be wetter than normal in Alaska and the Great Plains.